


The Rise of Shogun Chika Takami

by MaoTheRefrain



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 08:25:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18465196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaoTheRefrain/pseuds/MaoTheRefrain
Summary: A historical text detailing the life of Chika Takami, who would go on to become a powerful shogun and attempt to unify her land and bring peace to it.





	1. The Kurosawa Alliance

     Shogun Chika Takami started her life as the youngest child of simple innkeepers in a small coastal town. Though Shogun Takami was born during a politically tumultuous time, as the youngest of three daughters of common innkeepers, her political aspirations would seemingly be zero. However, as history now remembers, she became one of, if not the most, powerful and influential shoguns in written history.

     Shogun Takami first began her ambitious conquest alongside two of her closest allies, You Watanabe, a childhood friend and daughter of a naval captain, and Riko Sakurauchi, a brilliant tactician who met Takami when the girls were in their early teenage years. The three girls soon began planning Takami’s rise to power, with the belief that one day in their near future, Takami could rule all the land.

     Though the young Takami was more interested in mikan than military conquest, Watanabe and Sakurauchi soon convinced her that she should rise to power and create a utopian kingdom across the land. After a bit of pestering by her friends, Takami agreed to try and become the ruling shogun. Watanabe managed to “borrow” her father’s ship and the crew that went with it, and, under the brilliant command of Sakurauchi, the group managed to take a small castle just up the coast from their village. Fortunately for all involved, the castle was taken without any violence, though there was a fair bit of intimidation involved.

     The castle in question belonged to the Kurosawa clan, a powerful family in the area. Under normal circumstances, this conquest would’ve been nigh impossible with a single ship and its crew, but these were not normal circumstances. The clan leader, Dia Kurosawa, a somewhat feared but highly respected young lady, was away from the castle on business and took a large portion of her household guard with her. As a result, the younger sister of the clan leader, Ruby Kurosawa, was in charge of the defense of the castle. Ruby, by all accounts, was a gentle and caring girl, though also very shy and easily scared as well, despite undergoing basic shinobi training as a form of self-defense. Upon seeing an unfamiliar ship on the horizon, she immediately called up what was left of the household guard, which amounted to about 50 men, and readied them for the defense of the castle. However, once the enemy soldiers made their landing and declared their intent to take the castle as a starting point of unifying the land, young Ruby Kurosawa, frightened by the possibility of any of the household guards getting hurt, declared that she would surrender the castle so long as everyone’s safety was guaranteed.

     Though this certainly surprised Takami and her party, they happily accepted Kurosawa’s terms and moved their soldiers into the castle to defend their new base of operations to unify the land. Though Ruby Kurosawa was now their captive, she was treated more as a guest by the girls that had taken the castle. Despite her fear of them, by all accounts, Ruby soon started to befriend the girls. However, Ruby’s sister was set to return to her castle soon, and the results, Ruby warned, may not be the most desirable to Takami. Although Ruby was a meek young girl, her sister Dia was strong-willed and would not take kindly to the loss of her castle and capture of her dear younger sister. Upon hearing this, Sakurauchi immediately began forming plans on how to best deal with the elder Kurosawa sister. As per Takami’s wishes, ideally this plan would involve as little bloodshed as possible.

      After a few days of planning and waiting, Dia soon returned home with the bulk of her household guard, some 300 men, to see an unfamiliar banner flying over its walls. Normally, Kurosawa Castle had Dia’s personal banner, a white field displaying a red azalea, flying proudly above the walls. However, the castle now displayed a banner of orange, with a mikan emblazoned upon it. When she approached the gates and demanded to know what in the blazes was going on here, Ruby appeared on the battlements alongside Takami, now styling herself as Chika Takami, Lord of the Mikans. This infuriated the older Kurosawa, who demanded to know how Takami managed to steal her castle, but also silently thankful that she had done so without harming her sister. Before Ruby had a chance to tell her sister that it was by her own allowance that the castle was taken, Takami explained to the elder Kurosawa, with a smile no less, that her darling little sister let them in when she was told that Takami wished to use the castle as a base of operations for bringing a lasting peace to the warring kingdoms of the land.

     Hearing such a seemingly ridiculous statement, Dia Kurosawa demanded that Takami come down from her position atop the battlements and challenge her to a duel to regain her castle. Takami, ever spontaneous, was on the verge of accepting the challenge, despite the warnings from Watanabe and Sakurauchi that Dia Kurosawa was one of the greatest swordsmen in the land, but was saved by Ruby’s sudden interruption. She quickly explained to Dia that what she had been told was true, and that over the past few days, she had grown close to the party that had captured the castle and truly believed in the goal of Takami and her companions. She then pleaded with her sister that she at least sit down with them to hear Takami out, and after a tense moment between Dia and Takami, she begrudgingly agreed to her sister’s request and ordered that her soldiers lay down their arms as they entered the castle.

     Kurosawa sat with Takami and her party for several hours after entering the castle, arguing that their goal was unrealistic and foolhardy, that the trio could never accomplish what they set out to do, and so on and so forth. Every argument was met with the same rebuttal from Takami, that being that she was determined to bring peace the land, and that if she truly believed in herself, she could do it alongside her friends. After hours of arguing against Takami’s resilient optimism, Dia had nearly decided that she had had enough. But, as fortune had it, Ruby had been listening at the door the whole time and pushed her way into the room, begging Dia to side with Takami, stating that she truly believed in her cause, and that, if Dia could not side with her, that she at least let Takami leave in peace.

     Seeing her sister so fired up evidently caused a change in Dia’s temperament, and, as Sakurauchi later recorded in her own account of the events, she turned back to Takami with a sigh and agreed to help the young Shogun-to-be, while in the same breath begging her to at least take down the “ridiculous mikan banners” from her walls. Takami quickly agreed, though not without insisting that her banners were the greatest in the world.

     With this, Chika Takami had secured her her next two allies in the Kurosawa sisters, and in doing so, gained another 350 or so soldiers, more than doubling her army. In the sisters, Chika also gained a competent commander for her ground forces in Dia, a loyal and convincing advocate for her cause in Ruby, and soon to be close friends in both sisters. Her journey had begun almost comically easily, and though many more successes would follow, many would be more difficult to achieve.


	2. The Matsuura Alliance

     Kanan Matsuura was the head of another local samurai clan, and well-renowned as one of the greatest fighters in all the land when it came to the use of the naginata. It was said that no challenger could approach her in a fight, except perhaps Dia Kurosawa, who had been one of Matsuura’s closest friends since the two were children.

 

     The Matsuura clan was well known as the closest ally to the Kurosawa clan, and when she heard that Kurosawa castle had fallen to someone who was little more than an upstart peasant, Matsuura was furious. Without the knowledge that Kurosawa had actually willingly surrendered without even fighting due to her belief in Takami’s cause, Mastuura’s view of the situation was certainly skewed in favour of seeing Takami as little more than an arrogant warmonger who was starting a fight purely for the sake of spreading disorder, when in fact, the exact opposite was true. Driven to anger by the events that transpired at the Kurosawa castle, Matsuura gathered her troops and resolved to take back her friend’s castle and restore Kurosawa to her rightful place.

 

     Though the Matsuura clan could only muster about 200 soldiers, they could also lay claim to the position of having the most dominating naval presence in the surrounding area. The young lady Matsuura, by all accounts, loved spending time on the sea, and upon noticing the ever-increasing danger in the country, resolved to make her clan a force to be reckoned with on the seas, so that she might have a way to make up for her clan’s smaller numbers. It was said at the time that a coalition between the Matsuura and Kurosawa clans could’ve repelled any invader, with the Kurosawa’s powerful infantry being a perfect compliment to the Matsuura’s superb naval power.

 

     With her soldiers now gathered, Matsuura set off to defeat Takami and regain the honour of her childhood friend. Her journey up the coast to the Kurosawa castle was swift due to the favourable winds, and within a matter of days, her force was in sight of the castle. When Watanabe saw the ships in the waters near their base of operations, she recognized the banners in an instant, and falsely believed that Matsuura had come to join her forces to their own, since she was a close friend to their host. She quickly set out to greet Matsuura so that she might personally escort her to meet with Takami, taking a small personal vessel out to the waters where the enemy ships waited. When it was discovered that she was Takami’s naval commander, she was quickly taken aboard Matsuura’s own flagship and taken hostage. Though she tried to explain the situation, Watanabe was not believed, and a messenger was sent to Takami to tell her of her commander’s capture.

 

     Upon receiving the message from Matsuura, Takami was, by all accounts,  absolutely fearstruck at the thought that she might lose her friend and nearly set out then and there to treat with Matsuura. However, she was stopped by Sakurauchi and Dia Kurosawa, who assured her that nothing bad would happen to Watanabe. Takami agreed to let the older Kurosawa sister and Sakurauchi go to Matsuura and explain the situation to her, and if possible, bring her over to their side. The pair set off immediately and were brought aboard Matsuura’s ship within the hour.

 

     When she saw her friend with Sakurauchi, Matsuura was said to be suspicious of the situation, but allowed the two to enter her cabin and talk with her. Though she did listen to what the pair had to say, Matsuura did not entirely believe the situation. She insisted that Kurosawa was only assisting Takami because she, albeit falsely, believed that Takami had taken Ruby Kurosawa hostage and was using her to control Dia. Although they tried to convince her otherwise, Matsuura refused to believe what was going on, much to Kurosawa’s frustration. After about an hour of argument, Kurosawa was said to have pushed herself up from the table and told Matsuura that if she could not convince her with her words, that she would knock some sense into her in a fight. Sakurauchi tried in vain to stop the two friends from fighting, but Matsuura accepted the challenge without a second thought, declaring, according to Sakurauchi’s journal of the events written later, that if “Kurosawa was really telling the truth about the situation, she could prove it with her blade”.

 

     Kurosawa and Matsuura were taken ashore so that they might have their duel, with Sakurauchi and some of Matsuura’s most trusted commanders brought along to make sure that the duel was conducted fairly. The following account of the battle was again taken from Sakurauchi’s journal recounting the events:  


  


> “Dia and Lady Matsuura stood across from each other, about 20 feet apart, Dia holding her katana, Lady Matsuura with her naginata. I had heard tale of Lady Matsuura’s prowess with the weapon, and those tales didn’t set my mind at ease concerning this foolish fight. Though I had watched Dia training before, and knew she was not an opponent to be taken lightly, I knew she had disadvantage based purely on the weapons the two were using. If she could get inside Lady Matsuura’s guard, I knew Dia could win, but that was easier said than done.
> 
>  
> 
> I stood watching as the two circled each other slowly, both of them waiting for the other to make the first move. The air was thick with tension that was slowly building with every passing moment. After what seemed likes hours, though in truth could’ve been no more than a few minutes, the uneasy calm that had settled over the area shattered suddenly.
> 
>  
> 
> Lady Matsuura calmly gave her naginata a quick spin before gripping it tightly and leaping forward with a mighty overhead strike. Dia gracefully sidestepped the attack and countered with a fierce rising slash of her own, which was in turn dodged with seemingly no difficulty by Lady Matsuura. Dia followed up the slash with a series of rapid stabs, each dodged in turn, but only just. As Dia’s onslaught continued, Lady Matsuura calmly weaved in and out of Dia’s attacks, waiting for an opening. Soon enough, she saw one and quickly swept the back of her naginata low along the ground, knocking Dia off her feet. Lady Matsuura quickly leapt back to regain her advantage in reach, easily brushing aside a slash thrown out by Dia as she jumped back to her feet.
> 
>  
> 
> Now Lady Matsuura took the offensive, slashing and thrusting and spinning her weapon all around Dia, each attack narrowly avoided or parried at the last moment. As I stood there, unable to look away for even a moment, I thought I saw fear in Dia’s eyes, and for a moment I feared that she had been bested. In this moment, Lady Matsuura planted the blade of her weapon in the sand and vaulted up into another mighty strike. Dia seemed just as caught off-guard by the sudden vicious attack as I was, and for a moment, I struggled to keep my eyes open, fearful of what was about to happen.
> 
>  
> 
> Then, almost as suddenly as Lady Matsuura had taken to the air, she was swept to the ground by Dia, who had stepped in towards her opponent as she came down with her attack and slammed the hilt of her blade into Matsuura’s body, causing her to lose all momentum and balance. Dia stood above her old friend, blade pointed down at Lady Matsuura. Both of them had a look of absolute calm on their faces, then suddenly...Lady Matsuura burst into laughter, saying that Dia had finally bested her. Dia slowly let a smile come across her face as she reached down to help Lady Matsuura up.”
> 
>   
>    
> 

     After the two old friends resolved their duel, it was said that Lady Matsuura was very open to listen to everything Kurosawa and Sakurauchi had to say about the situation in which they were now in. She offered her deepest apologies for taking Watanabe captive and returned her immediately before being asked to meet with Takami and offer her apologies once more in person. The party happily accepted Matsuura’s offer and personally escorted her to meet Takami.

 

     Takami received Matsuura with a smile and offered her a position by her side as co-commander of her naval force alongside Watanabe, which Matsuura graciously accepted, thus adding her strength to the forces of Takami’s and pledging her allegiance to her cause. This was yet another easy victory claimed and alliance forged by Takami, and it would prove to be vital in the coming battle against a rival Takami did not yet know she had: The Shaman Queen Yohane Tsushima and her strategist Hanamaru Kunikida.


	3. The Shaman Queen Yohane

     Chika Takami was not the only one in the land with ambitions of uniting everyone under herself. Shortly before Takami began her plans to unite the land, another young lady began a campaign in the lands south of Takami with the goal of uniting the lands under her rule. That young lady was Yohane Tsushima, the leader of a small tribe who worshipped her as a shaman queen, believing her to be a fallen angel with magic powers. Tsushima herself held these beliefs as well, and figured that this gave her rights to rule over the whole land. She was assisted in her venture by her close friend Hanamaru Kunikida, a brilliant young strategist from the same area as the shaman queen, though not actually a believer in Tsushima’s “magical powers”.

     Many historians ascribe Tsushima’s early successes to Kunikida’s brilliant mind, with which she devised various strategies that allowed Tsushima to rapidly expand her sphere of influence in the area, allowing her to expand her territory from her rather small tribal lands to encompass much of the southern territory in a very short time. Within the span of a few short months, Yohane Tsushima went from an unknown queen of a tiny tribe to one of the most powerful women in the land, while Kunikida assisted her queen from more of a background role to ensure her continued success.

     It was only a matter of time until Tsushima and Takami clashed, since each of the two young women had the same goal in mind, and Tsushima’s conquested lands would soon be close to bordering the lands that Takami had taken in the time since she began her campaign. Kunikida, perhaps looking for a safer alternative to a large-scale battle, cautioned Tsushima to first try sending an envoy to Takami to ask that she surrender to Tsushima’s forces, offering her a favourable position in Tsushima’s army should she accept. Tsushima doubted the effectiveness of this strategy, stating that she should instead crush Takami with her divine wrath, but after much protesting from Kunikida, allowed the idea to at least be attempted. The messenger to Takami reached her about a month after being dispatched, and the offer predictably refused outright. It is said that Takami laughed upon reading the letter, taking it for a joke at first until Sakurauchi told her of Tsushima’s ever-expanding kingdom. The messenger returned to Tsushima to give her word of Takami’s refusal, and the two opposing powers began to prepare for the possibility of a war.

     Sakurauchi suggested that Takami stop her advance to the south for the time being so that she might meet Tsushima in battle at a spot of her own choosing, rather than advancing on Tsushima and being caught out against her defending army, which had the advantage in numbers. Takami, wishing to avoid bloodshed if at all possible, agreed to take up a defensive position near her territory’s southern border, in the hills overlooking a wide plain that Tsushima would have to pass if she wished to get to Takami. The area was well-suited for defense, with the hills offering a commanding view of the plain below, and Takami soon had three small forts built along the hilltops. There, her troops dug in to lie in wait for the advance of Tsushima’s forces.

     Meanwhile, Tsushima continued her advance north towards Takami’s lands, but was convinced to stop by Kunikida when the strategist received reports of the defensive position now held by Takami’s troops. Though Tsushima insisted that her powers would prevent them from losing, she agreed that attacking Takami when she held such a powerful defensive position would be unwise, and implored Kunikida to begin drawing up plans for how to continue down their desired path. Kunikida set to work, and soon realized that, if Tsushima’s troops were to take ships up the coast to the west, they could make landfall a short ways north of Takami’s position and advance on them from an unexpected direction, possibly crushing them if successful. The plan involved a large amount of risk, but it was the only other effective route to take, so Tsushima agreed to a surprise assault from Takami’s vulnerable northern flank.

     The largest problem with Kunikida’s plan lied in the fact that the Tsushima military was not particularly powerful at sea, a stark contrast to the Takami military, who had the very competent naval commander Matsuura defending the western coast, with Watanabe on the eastern one. However, Kunikida did not plan to do battle on the seas, but to instead slip by Matsuura using small, fast ships under the cover of night. The plan was a risky one, and depended entirely on the winds being favourable and Matsuura not seeing their force, but she was willing to take the gamble in exchange for not having to fight in the plains south of Takami’s position. At the very worst, Kunikida figured, they would be captured by Matsuura and could bargain for their freedom by agreeing to return to their own lands. Knowing Tsushima would object to her contingency plan, Kunikida elected to keep it to herself.

     On the night that the Tsushima forces intended to set sail, the shaman queen went to address her forces. Though the winds were not in their favour, Tsushima proclaimed that she would use her powers to command the winds to shift and give them swift travels to their landing point. Her soldiers were said to have let out a sonorous war cry upon hearing their queen’s proclamation, though Kunikida, not being a believer in magic, was preparing for the worst. But, as fate would have it, the winds shifted in their favour shortly before they were due to set sail, reportedly leading Tsushima to gloat to her strategist that she truly was a fallen angel, and that even Kunikida couldn’t deny it now. The young strategist remained unconvinced and unimpressed.

     Thanks to the sudden shift in the winds, magically induced or not, Kunikida’s plan worked out, and most of the Tsushima forces managed to slip by Matsuura’s ships undetected. Two Tsushima ships were captured, but none of the soldiers on board gave up the plan their strategist had devised, leaving Matsuura with little to go off of when she sent word to Sakurauchi that something was devious afoot. By sunrise, the Tsushima forces had managed to land and group up at a small cove to the north of Takami’s position and prepared for their southward march, confident that their queen would lead them to victory.

     Upon receiving the warning from Matsuura that some Tsushima ships soldiers were captured, Sakurauchi immediately realized what was going on and cursed herself for not factoring in a surprise advance from the north by Tsushima’s forces. Fortunately for Takami, her forts were in a position to defend the north as well, though not nearly as effectively. Sakurauchi quickly informed Takami of the incoming soldiers from the north, and plans were adjusted accordingly to meet the enemy from that direction. Thinking they were still undetected, the Tsushima forces continued their advance, confident in what they believed was an assured victory.


	4. Tsushima’s Advance is Stalled

     Many historians would consider Takami’s battle with Tsushima to be the first major conflict that she faced in her quest to unify the land. Until this point, Takami had faced relatively little amounts of resistance, and her forces had yet to be tempered by a real battle. However, this would all change in the span of a few short days.

     With Tsushima’s attacking force quickly on the march towards Takami’s forts, tensions behind Takami’s lines were high. Knowing that all of Tsushima’s force was either on the march towards them or captured by Matsuura, Takami ordered her naval commanders to make port and reinforce the forts in anticipation for the upcoming battle. Though the odds of them arriving in time for the start of the battle were slim, the extra troops that could be provided would be a welcome addition if they could arrive before the battle was in full swing, at the very least. With her own forces outnumbered and the exact position of the enemy force being unknown, Takami was understandably worried about the outcome of the looming battle. Sensing the worry in Takami, Ruby Kurosawa offered to lead a small expedition to spy on the enemy force and learn of their exact numbers and location, saying that her shinobi training made her a good choice to lead this mission.

     Takami was understandably apprehensive at the thought of allowing this mission, and Dia was actively trying her best to talk Ruby out of what she saw as a fool’s mission, while also trying to get Takami to forbid the mission should her attempts to persuade Ruby fail. However, the younger Kurosawa sister stood her ground, insisting that she wanted to be of more use to Takami’s cause, and that if she was careful, she’d never even come close to being caught. Takami finally agreed, despite Dia’s protests and her own worries about sending the younger Kurosawa on such a dangerous mission, stating that Ruby’s training did indeed make her the only suitable person in her force to lead such a mission.

     Once she saw that arguing would get her nowhere, Dia finally consented to let Ruby attempt to spy on Tsushima, but reportedly told Takami, “should anything happen to Ruby, I will come to you immediately to deliver retribution.” She did not, of course, wish to fight Takami, but Dia’s love for her little sister was strong, and her worries great. Takami fully accepted responsibility for Ruby’s safety, and, once she had assured her sister that she’d be extra careful, Ruby Kurosawa set off with a small task force to get the information they needed on their enemy.

     Surprisingly, Ruby proved to be a competent leader, perhaps due to what many would have considered an over-abundance of caution in any other situation. But in this case, Ruby’s timid nature combined with her shinobi training proved a perfect combination for the commander of such a sensitive and dangerous mission. Ruby led her force quickly through the wooded hills north of Takami’s forts, and before long, had sighted Tsushima’s force moving south from the cove where they had landed. By Ruby’s estimate, Tsushima currently outnumbered Takami by some 500 soldiers, giving her an army a large edge in the event that the reinforcements from Watanabe and Matsuura did not arrive quickly. However, the size of Tsushima’s force, along with the less than ideal terrain, meant that there would be at least 3 days before they could be in any position to attack, giving Takami a timeframe for when a battle might start. Ruby sent a member of her team back to Takami to deliver the information, and then resolved to attempt to lay some traps to slow down Tsushima’s advance.

     Trying her best to keep her force unseen by Tsushima’s, Ruby and her agents quickly set to work felling trees along the road to block the easiest path to Takami’s forts, digging and subsequently covering pitfall traps along routes that Tsushima’s forces may use as detours, and destroying the only bridge for a good distance that could be used to cross a river just north of Takami’s position. Though simple, Ruby knew that many of these traps could delay Tsushima for a considerable time and possibly thin her numbers a bit, thus shrinking Tsushima’s numerical advantage little by little. After setting what she considering a sufficient number of traps and tricks, Ruby took her force and returned to Takami’s fort, where she was met with praise for her brave work in slowing down the enemy and her excellent work in recovering useful information. Furthermore, in the few days that since Ruby had left, Watanabe had managed to get her forces to Takami’s position, though not without an exhausting march. Watanabe was said to have given her deepest thanks to Ruby for setting the traps along the road to the fort, as it gave her and her troops time to rest before the upcoming battle.

     Takami had also received word from Matsuura that she was trying to reach the fort as fast as she could, but having to transport the prisoners that Matsuura had captured was slowing her advance. Based on her current position, Matsuura would not arrive to the battle before it began, but hopefully her force could be relied on to relieve some of Takami’s soldiers if they could just hold out for long enough.

     Thanks to Ruby’s efforts, Tsushima’s forces were delayed by several days in their arrival to Takami’s defensive line, with somewhat thinned out numbers, no less. With the addition of Watanabe’s force and the loss of some of her own troops along the way, Tsushima now only outnumbered Takami by a mere 200 men. Though not an advantage to be shrugged off, it was far less of a danger to Takami’s force than the alternative. Her advantage now rather diminished, Tsushima ordered her soldiers to strike camp and begin besieging Takami’s forts from their more vulnerable northern flank. For now, Takami could only return fire on Tsushima’s troops and conserve their strength while they waited for Matsuura and her soldiers to arrive. This would truly be a test of Takami’s forces, and of her own ability to lead them.


	5. Takami’s Desperate Struggle

     Until this point, Takami had faced relatively little resistance in her conquest, leaving her soldiers untested in battle. Though Takami found this fortunate before this point, being under siege from Tsushima’s forces made Takami now curse her ease in campaigning up to this point. Morale within Takami’s forts was steadily falling, and though her force was not losing many soldiers to injuries, the mental tax on her forces was starting to show after a few days of being attacked. Not knowing how long it might be until Matsuura arrived with reinforcements and facing the possibility of being softened up by Tsushima’s siege instruments to the point of being easily trampled in the actual battle, Takami summoned Sakurauchi to have the tactician draw up a plan of action.

     Sakurauchi agreed that the situation was desperate, and that Takami’s force wouldn’t hold up much longer under siege, and as a result began to draw up plans to attack Tsushima’s forces in open combat. Though Takami’s forces were outnumbered, they knew that if Matsuura would arrive to the battle on time, she would be arriving soon, and thus it was decided that they would have to make up for the smaller numbers until her arrival by being fierce and quick in their attacks. Sakurauchi first proposed that small strike forces be sent out to Tsushima’s flanks to pick off her numbers gradually as Takami readied her soldiers for the main assault. It was agreed upon by all of Takami’s commanders that Dia Kurosawa should lead the strike forces, as she was the most experienced fighter amongst those present. Kurosawa accepted the command and immediately began to assemble an elite force from Takami’s soldiers, planning to ride out as soon as she possibly could.

     Meanwhile, Watanabe was tasked with leading the defense of the forts so that Kurosawa’s strike force would be able to return safely after chipping away at Tsushima’s forces. She quickly went to work training the soldiers assigned to defend the fort in how to use the teppo that were recently acquired during Takami’s conquests up to this point. Watanabe herself had already known the ways of the new weapon, having “borrowed” her father’s own teppo when she set off with Takami, and was as a result easily the best person in the force for training the soldiers on how to use them. This also had the added benefit of having a trained force of gunners, should they manage to win this battle. If all went well with this part of the plan, the main attack would also be far less dangerous, as Takami’s forces would also have covering fire as they left the forts.

     Finally, Takami was tasked with keeping up the morale of the troops while Sakurauchi finalized the battle formations. She was uniquely suited to the task of cheering up the soldiers, as it seemed that no matter the situation, Takami managed to keep a smile on her face and a positive outlook for the future. She set out to encourage the soldiers in each of the forts, taking time to do drills alongside them, talking to as many individuals as she could manage, and generally re-assuring all of her soldiers that everything would end up alright and that the siege would soon be broken.

     Within the next couple hours, Kurosawa had her strike force assembled, and was provided very effective cover from the small amount of gunners that were already trained in the teppo before this point. Watanabe herself led the defense of Kurosawa’s strike force and was said to have been instrumental in keeping many of the soldiers that were an immediate threat to the force pinned down to the point that the threat was minimal. Kurosawa led several daring strikes along Tsushima’s flanks, riding in with her force and cutting down all that stood in their path while suffering very few casualties, due to the advantage they had in mobility and the element of surprise. Many of the soldiers that weren’t killed outright by Kurosawa’s force fled from them with such haste that most of them left their weapons and equipment behind. Once Kurosawa considered her force’s first set of strikes sufficient, they prepared themselves to ride back to the relative safety of their forts. As they neared the fort they were falling back to, however, Kurosawa herself took an arrow to the arm from one of Tsushima’s archers that happened to be patrolling the edge of the camp. The injury itself was not very serious, but Kurosawa was ordered by Takami to set out of the rest of the battle under the rationale that she was too important to become injured any further. Although she protested Takami’s orders, Kurosawa was eventually talked into staying behind at the fort by Ruby, and upon seeing how worried her little sister was, was said to have been rather contrite about her reckless insistence to return to the command of her strike force. The command was handed over to another member of the force, and they set off again shortly afterwards, reportedly leading several other successful attacks to Tsushima’s flanks.

     As Watanabe’s gunners continued to defend the forts and give cover to the strike force as they came and went, Sakurauchi finalized her plan of attack. First, a messenger was sent to Matsuura to inform her of the attack’s commencement. This would hopefully arrive by the end of the day, given Sakurauchi’s estimate on where Matsuura was currently, and with any luck, would allow her to get her troops to march with haste to provide relief to the attacking forces. Then, Sakurauchi explained her plan to the commanders present as follows: Takami’s army would divide into three parts, with one force in the central fort and two slightly smaller forces in either of the side forts, and ready themselves to attack at dawn. The smaller forces were to led by Dia and the current commander of the strike force, but since Kurosawa had been injured, Sakurauchi uneasily accepted the command of one of the forces herself, at Takami’s insistence. Takami convinced her tactician that it would serve well to have the creator of the plan herself on the field anyways, since she could more easily change the plan on the fly if need be, and like that, it was sealed that Sakurauchi would be taking her first field command.

     As for the central force, Takami insisted that she would lead it personally, though she was convinced by Watanabe to not lead the vanguard as she had initially wanted. Even still, morale amongst the soldiers visibly improved when it was learned that their commander would personally be taking the field in the upcoming attack. Once all of the commanders were informed of the plan for the attack, they were sent out with orders to brief their individual forces and to then make sure that everyone amongst them got as good a rest as they could that night in order to be ready to attack at dawn. Thanks in great part to Watanabe’s forces, the soldiers in the fort managed to get a relatively quiet night’s rest, as the gunners had managed to reduce the effectiveness of Tsushima’s siege by striking fear into the soldiers at the front, causing them to prefer taking cover rather than pressing the siege. Many of the soldiers would surely be thankful for it, as the next morning would be anything but quiet.


	6. Tsushima’s Siege is Broken

     At the break of dawn the next morning, Takami and her commanders assembled their forces and moved out in force from the forts in which they had been holed up. Kunikida had anticipated an attack, probably due in part to the multiple strikes at Tsushima’s flanks, and informed her queen that she should keep her forces alert and ready for battle at dawn’s first light. Tsushima reportedly laughed at her strategist’s worry, saying that her “dark powers” would ward off any chance of Takami’s victory, but nonetheless agreed to have her soldiers ready for battle. It was probably due to Kunikida’s insight that Tsushima’s force was not taken completely off guard by the sudden attack of Takami’s force. Though they now had only a small numerical advantage, Tsushima’s force now held the defensive position, being that Takami was now attacking their camp, thus increasing their effectiveness somewhat due to the presence of their rudimentary fortifications.

     Kunikida did not, however, predict the way in which Takami would split her forces, thinking instead that she would attack in one massed force from the central fort. It should be noted that this was due in part to Kunikida not knowing much of Sakurauchi tactics, since the young tactician had yet to be tested by a real fight, unlike Kunikida herself. Due to this, and also the tactics used by many of the previous battles that Tsushima’s forces had been involved in, Kunikida grossly underestimated Sakurauchi’s tactical abilities. The result of this underestimation was that the smaller forces managed to take the flanks of Tsushima’s forces by near complete surprise. The damage that may have been dealt to the enemy force was somewhat mitigated by their actual battle experience, and Tsushima’s flanks managed to take up a defensive position quickly and were soon engaged with their respective parts of Takami’s army. As the flanks stuck in to battle each other, Takami’s personal force marched into battle against the center of Tsushima’s now somewhat splintered force. Takami’s soldiers had proven that they could competently defend a position, but now they would be tested on the attack, and the fighting would prove to be fierce.

     While Tsushima had given command of her flanks to high-ranking officers in her own army, her pride led her to lead the center of her force, and as such, she was stuck in to battle with the force led by Takami. It should be noted that, although she was a queen to her people and worshipped as such, Yohane Tsushima was a fearsome warrior in her own right. She preferred to use a mighty kanabo in battle and overwhelm her foes with sheer strength, admonishing weapons of greater finesse in favour of fighting “like the demons of hell”, in her own words. This battle doctrine was soon put on display for Takami’s forces to great effect, as many of Takami’s soldiers near Tsushima were quick to break rank and fall back from her. As she smashed her way through Takami’s forces, Tsushima was said to cry out to Takami to face her head on in a fight to prove which girl was more fit to rule.

     While the fighting on the flanks was starting to ease into the favour of the attackers, Tsushima’s force had the upper hand in the center, with the situation looking dire for Takami’s troops. As Takami attempted to rally the soldiers around her, she was soon interrupted by one of her soldiers being slid across the ground by a mighty blow, and according to her journal of the events, looked up to witness “Tsushima standing across from me, her kanabo resting on her shoulder, with a fierce look in her eyes and a grin on her lips”. Tsushima demanded that Takami fight her one-on-one, saying that if Takami was “truly the one meant to unite the land, the heavens would grant her victory against the fallen angel that stands before you”. Takami also noted the “strange pose” that Tsushima took as she offered the duel: “She moved the hand not holding her weapon to her face and parted her fingers to make one rest above her eye and another below it, wearing a smug grin all the while. Looking back on it, it was honestly a bit funny that she did something so ridiculous in the middle of a battle.”

     Although Takami was reluctant to fight a seasoned warrior such as Tsushima, she accepted the duel, knowing that Tsushima’s desire to battle her personally would cause her to at least stop the fighting of the soldiers in this general area, and perhaps give Matsuura time to arrive with her troops. For this reason, Takami instructed her soldiers to stay back as she accepted Tsushima’s request for a duel. The soldiers from both forces made space so that their respective commanders could fight. The following account of the battle come from the journal of Takami:

 

> “I slowly walked away from the soldiers I had been fighting alongside into the space that had been made for Tsushima and I to have our duel. Though I could hear my own heart pounding in my ears, I knew that I had to win this fight somehow, as the fate of my cause depended on it. My soldiers had all been tested so much over the past few days in this battle against Tsushima, and now it was my turn to be tested personally.
> 
> As I stepped into our makeshift arena, I noticed Tsushima grin and could feel a cold sweat down the back of my neck. She asked if I was ready, and almost as soon as I gave a nod, Tsushima was practically on top of me, bringing her kanabo down in a mighty overhead strike. I dodged it narrowly and saw the earth where I had been standing become a deep dent in the ground as Tsushima’s club smashed into it with a mighty thud. I quickly hopped back and slashed at her feebly, but my blade was met by her kanabo as she brought it up to defend. It took all my strength to not drop my sword right then, but somehow I managed to hold on to it and give my next attack more speed to it. Tsushima dodged it with what seemed to be no difficulty, and she quickly followed up with a swing of her club aimed at my side.
> 
> Although I managed to slide away from her in time to dodge most of the attack, I felt Tsushima’s weapon skim my ribs, and as I did my best not to cry out, Tsushima told me to fight like I meant it, saying that she thought I would be a better opponent, and brought another swing down towards me. This time, I dodged the full force of it and countered with a thrust of my sword, managing to clip her hand slightly. As she recoiled from the tiny knick I had given her, I followed up with another cut, and another and another. Although I couldn’t seem to hit her with any of my attacks, somehow I had gotten Tsushima on the defensive.
> 
> Our fight went on like this for a while, both of us dodging the other’s blows, trading off on who was attacking and who was defending. I was feeling desperate, knowing that I was starting to tire out and that I had to end this fight soon. Suddenly, I saw an opening in her guard and I threw my shoulder into Tsushima, knocking her to the ground and sending her kanabo flying from her hand. As I stood over her, sword pointed at her chest, I heard a sound that was music to my ears...Kanan’s soldiers sounding a rallying cry to signal their arrival. I couldn’t help but smile as I looked down at Tsushima, and as I told her why I was smiling, I offered her my hand to help her up. When she questioned why I would help an enemy, I told her that I never saw her as an enemy, but a potential ally. I knew we had the same goal, so I didn’t see why it was that we couldn’t work together to turn the warring kingdoms into a peaceful, unified kingdom.
> 
> To my relief, Tsushima smiled and took my hand, and as I helped her to her feet, she told me that the gods were smiling on her, and that the “fallen angel” would gladly help such a worthy ruler. I...wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that, but I was happy to have another friend to my cause!”

  
     Tsushima quickly sent word to Kunikida that the battle was lost and that all her troops were to stand down. Furthermore, any soldier who didn’t obey this order would be questioned as to why they insisted on fighting their allies, and would be made to answer to Queen Yohane herself.

     After the battle, the commanders of the two sides convened to discuss the new alliance. Tsushima was insistent that she be allowed to keep her title, as “the gods above have given this fallen angel the title of queen, and it would be most unwise to upset them.” Although Takami’s commanders were understandably baffled by Tsushima’s behavior, Kunikida also requested that Tsushima be allowed to keep her title, adding that her family had been shaman queens of her tribe since time immemorial, and allowing her to keep her title was the only real way to secure the support of her forces, including Kunikida and her strategic expertise. Takami happily agreed to these conditions, stating that she never intended to strip the titles from anyone, regardless of the reason, as she merely wanted the people of the land to stop fighting one another. Her commanders all agreed, and as simply as that, the short war between the forces of Takami and Tsushima was concluded, with a new alliance formed between the two young leaders. For all intents and purposes, the land was practically unified. All the remained were the frozen lands to the north, the lands under the control of the powerful Kazuno sisters.


	7. A Brief History of the Kazuno Rise to Power

     Approximately a year before Chika Takami began her campaigns to unify the lands to the south of her, a similar path was taken by a pair of sisters in the frigid north. These two young girls, Sarah and Leah Kazuno, hailed from a mountainous smaller island just to the north of the mainland where Takami lived. Sarah was the elder of the two, and as such, was the heir to a petty kingdom of little circumstance. With the support of her younger sister Leah, however, Sarah soon began to foster an ambition to unite the entirety of the island on which the two sisters lived. At this time, the island was home to a vast number of tiny, inconsequential kingdoms, with the largest of these being little more than towns of slightly larger-than-average size with some rudimentary walls and watchtowers for defense. The Kazuno sisters were the princesses of one of the even lesser kingdoms, but it was realized by the pair that by forging alliances with some of the other lesser kingdoms, they could easily overthrow the “large” ones. By using this strategy, the sisters managed to bring their entire island under the rule of a single unified force, the leaders of which agreed that Sarah Kazuno should be the one rule, as it was the plans of her and her sister that allowed the island to unite itself and cease all of their in-fighting. At a meeting held between the leaders of the alliance that managed to conquer the island, as well as the rulers of the now-conquered kingdoms, it was unanimously agreed upon to bestow the title of Shogun on young Sarah Kazuno, who had proven to be an amazingly proficient leader at such a young age.

 

     All in all, the conquest of the island took only a few short months, perhaps due to the charisma of Sarah Kazuno as a leader, perhaps due to the surprising tactical prowess of Leah Kazuno, or, as is most likely, due to a combination of both factors. Regardless of the reason, it can be agreed upon that the months that followed the conquest were very prosperous for the peoples of  the newfound Kazuno Shogunate. The lack of fighting between all of the petty kingdoms actually allowed a good harvest to be brought in by the farmers of the land, who were often subject to being raided by rival kingdoms. This in turn increased the ability of the Shogunate to trade with with their neighbors at the northern tip of the mainland, which again in turn allowed them to make improvements to the infrastructure of the island. However, this peace would not last for very long, as is often the case.

 

     Seeing how well off the newfound Shogunate was, many of the lesser lords on the northern mainland thought that they may have also had a chance to seize some fortunes of their own. Thinking that the newly formed Shogunate would be exhausted militarily and weary of fighting any more, several of these scheming lords formed a small alliance of their own and plotting to take whatever they could during a surprise attack to the northern island. In theory, these lords were sound in their thinking that the Kazuno forces would be weakened and weary. But theory is often far different from reality. Leah Kazuno foresaw that somebody would wish to shatter this peace that she and her sister had worked so hard to achieve, though she did not entirely know who it would be. Having seen the wisdom in what her sister was saying, Sarah Kazuno set to replacing the forces of her military almost as soon as peace had been achieved. Though it was announced that the soldiers that had fought hard in her campaign to unify the island were all allowed to return to their homes if they so chose, many instead decided to stay in her armies, wishing to help defend the peace that they had fought so hard for to create. In addition to this, many of the soldiers that had previously fought against Kazuno joined her forces as well, again wishing to defend the new peace. Sarah Kazuno kept this information on her military strength a closely guarded secret, however, instead opting to allow her neighbors to think her military was drained from the conquest.

 

     When the alliance of lords from the mainland arrived on the southern shores of Shogunate’s lands, they were greeting by seemingly empty beaches with seemingly safe mountains rising just to the north. They began their advance at once, confident that there were riches ripe for the taking. Though they didn’t know it, they were doomed to fail in this greedy campaign from the very moment they were off of their ships. Within an hour of disembarking, a small force of Kazuno’s army had taken the alliance of lords in the rear flank, having snaked their way through small passes higher up in the mountains. Though greatly outnumbered, this smaller force had the element of surprise and knowledge of the terrain on their side. The enemies managed to escape further inland, though they were actually allowed to do so by the ambushing forces, as the bulk of the Kazuno forces were lying in wait a few miles to the north. Just as the allied forces thought they were safe, they were set upon by the rest of the Kazuno forces and utterly routed. The ensuing battle was a one-sided one, to say the least, and the surviving forces only just managed to make it back to their ships and make a hasty retreat.

 

     Seeing how thoroughly the alliance was dealt with, many of the mainland lords began to talk of the strength of the Kazuno Shogunate’s armies and the ferocity of their soldiers. Almost overnight, the Shogunate became feared and respected by the lords of the northern part of the mainland. However, still fearing that they might retaliate in force, Sarah Kazuno ordered the construction of several forts on the shores of the Shogunate’s island, allowing for a more tenacious defense of her lands should the need arise.

 

     This ultimately disastrous campaign was more than enough to convince the mainland lords that invading the lands of the Shogunate was unwise, and the forts quickly became a symbol of this, as well as a point of pride for the people of the Shogunate, serving as a testament to the valour of their defense. The victory of the Kazuno forces again ushered in a period of peace and prosperity. It was around this time that Takami began her own southward conquest, though the Kazunos knew nothing of Takami at this point, nor she of them. This was soon to change, however, as many of the northern lords would soon get wind of Takami’s many successful, seemingly miraculous, campaigns and many of those lords would hatch a scheme to have Takami fight the Kazunos and reap the spoils for themselves in the aftermath. What followed would prove to be a very interesting page in the history of Takami’s journey.


	8. Takami and Kazuno Part 1 - A Likely Rivalry

     For a time after the conclusion of the fighting between Takami and Tsushima, there was a period of relative peace in the lands under Takami’s control. There were small skirmishes here and there throughout her territories, but those were against little more than scattered soldiers who took up the practice of banditry after deserting their armies in the wake of Takami’s advance. Seldom did these groups even have a leader, and it was even less common that the aforementioned leaders were actually competent in their command. Needless to say, any such group was easily dispatched, and to Takami’s credit, any of these groups that willingly surrendered were spared from harsh punishment, usually just being sentenced to repairing defenses around castles and villages or building new ones where there had previously been none. This policy of dealing with “rebels” quickly caused most of the bandit groups to disband and willingly turn themselves in, leading to very little actual fighting in Takami’s realm.

 

     As the days passed, word of Takami’s victories spread north, to the areas that she had not yet taken, and soon enough her skill and luck in battle reached some of the more underhanded northern lords who wished to see the Kazuno Shogunate dealt with so that they might reap the rewards that such a collapse might offer. These same lords were also starting to fear that Takami might turn her eyes to the north and seek to conquer their own lands, so in order to prevent this, they began to formulate a plan to have the two young rulers battle each other and hopefully weaken themselves to a state where it would be possible for these lords to easily defeat both of them in the aftermath. In order to execute this plans, several of these lords sent letters to Takami, imploring her to come north to defend them from a forthcoming attack from the Kazuno armies. Though this attack was entirely fictitious, Takami was easily taken in by the letters and began making preparations to head north at once.

 

     Though Sakurauchi and Kunikida, who had decided to travel in Takami’s retinue alongside her queen Tsushima, were both skeptical about the intentions of these northern lords, Takami swayed them to her side by arguing that since she had been asked to help, it would be wrong to ignore the request. After much arguing with one another, Takami finally reached an agreement with her advisors. She would take her force northward to help the supposedly beleaguered lords, but if at any point it was discovered that she was being used, as her two advisors suspected, Takami would immediately withdraw her forces and head back to her own lands. Though Takami expressed her dissatisfaction at possibly having to spy on people that seemed to need her help to determine their intentions, she agreed to the compromise, and she, along with her armies, set off for the northern shores of the land to meet these supposedly distressed lords.

 

     In the weeks that it took for Takami to arrive, the scheming lords launched several small attacks on the Kazuno Shogunate, attempting to bait them into launching a counterattack in order to show Takami the apparent danger that they were facing. After repelling countless attacks of growing strength, Sarah Kazuno was finally convinced by her younger sister Leah to launch several small raids against the aggressors, if for no other reason than to flex their own strength in an attempt to dissuade any further unprovoked aggression. To the surprise of the Kazunos, these small raids actually gained the Shogunate a small foothold on the northern shores, though this was actually secretly allowed by the northern lords, again to show Takami that the Kazuno Shogunate was dangerous and needed to be dealt with. Fortunately for these lords (in their eyes at least), the Kazunos fiercely defended this foothold and continued to send out small raids on the castles of these lords, again to dissuade them from further military action.

 

     By the time Takami had arrived to meet with these lords, the Kazuno Shogunate had managed to throw up some basic defenses around their fortress on the shore and were showing no signs of letting it be taken back, despite the “efforts” of the lords of the area. In truth, these efforts amounted to little more than sending out small parties of soldiers to harass the fortress, but this was kept a secret from Takami, who was instead told that the Kazuno forces had been raiding innocent peasants and brutally cutting down envoys that had been sent to treat with them. In truth, it was the Kazuno envoys that had been attacked, as the ring leaders of these lords did not wish to risk peace breaking out, since some of the other lords were beginning to grow weary of fighting the Kazunos and perhaps would agree to peace were it that terms were offered. Sadly, Takami and her party were mislead into believed these scheming tricksters, and Takami began drawing up plans of attack with her advisors as soon as they had finished meeting with their hosts.

 

     It should be noted that, although most of Takami’s party was very taken in by the deception of these northern lords, one member of her party, Ruby Kurosawa, still expressed considerable doubt in what they were doing, though she was too unsure of her own doubts to bring them to anyone’s attention. Though she remained quiet on how she felt, it was clear to some of the party that she felt uneasy with the concept of fighting the Kazunos, particularly to her older sister and Admiral Matsuura, though both girls merely assumed this was Ruby just being a gentle young girl who generally disliked fighting. However, this lack of resolve was also noticed by Kunikida, who had become quick friends with Ruby in the short time that the two had known one another. After the initial strategy meeting was wrapped up, Kunikida asked to talk to Ruby privately, where the younger Kurosawa sister finally admitted to her dislike of what was going on. She told Kunikida that she thought they were indeed being used, and that she also thought the story they were told didn’t add up. If the Kazuno armies were strong enough to take the fort they were hold and also repel all of the attempts to retake it, why had they not expanded their holdings? Surely, Ruby told Kunikida, they should have no issue with doing so. Ruby confessed that she believed it was actually the northern lords who had started this conflict, and that they were also the ones dragging it out.

 

     Kunikida admitted to the younger Kurosawa that she too, thought they were being used, but that, as the newest member of the party, she did not feel comfortable expressing this doubt, since Takami and the others seemed to buy the story. Kunikida was on the verge of dismissing these thoughts as mere paranoia, but hearing that somebody else felt the same way was enough to convince her that there was more to her suspicions than that. The two girls agreed that they would certainly need more evidence other than just their own doubts to get the others to agree, and as such began formulating a plan to find a hole in the story they were told so that they might convince the others that they were being lied to. Ruby’s own shinobi training was considered by Kunikida to be a very useful asset in this plan, as she would be able to spy on the lords to try and find out about any deception. Though she expressed doubt that she would be able to carry out this mission effectively, Ruby was reassured by Kunikida that she would be successful, reminding her that it was only due to her own efforts that Takami’s forces were able to learn the strength and location of Tsushima’s forces during the conflict between the two. At that point, Ruby agreed to spy on the lords and attempt to find out if there was any merit to their suspicions.

 

     Over the next several days, as Takami’s forces were preparing to march on the Kazuno position, Ruby Kurosawa set to work spying on their hosts to try and root out any devious plot that might be hidden beneath the surface. Initially, she was was not proving very successful, much to the chagrin of Kunikida and herself, and as the day for the march drew closer, the two began to wonder if they were indeed just overthinking the situation. However, the night before Takami’s army was set to march, Ruby managed to overhear two of the lords discussing how unexpectedly well their plan to have the two forces destroy one another was going. Unfortunately, however, in her haste to make it back to Kunikida to expose the plan, the younger Kurosawa sister fell from her hiding spot and exposed her eavesdropping to the plotting lords. Fortunately for her, the lords saw a use for Ruby beyond just throwing her in a dungeon and pretending they didn’t know where she was. The told Ruby that no harm would come to her or her friends so long as she agreed to sneak into the Kazuno fort and deliver a message to the commander. Fearing for what might happen if she refused these lords, Ruby Kurosawa agreed to deliver this message. Within the hour, she would set out for the Kazuno fortress at the request of these scheming lords, managing to arrive just a few hours before dawn.

 

     As she approached the fortress, Ruby allowed herself to be captured and requested to meet with the commander of the force occupying the fort on the grounds that she had an important message to deliver. Her request was granted, and she was soon escorted to the innermost section of the fort, where she came face to face with Leah Kazuno for the first time. This meeting between the two girls would prove to be a fateful one, as when Leah read the letter that she was given, she saw through it with ease, being more used to dealing with the schemers that sent Ruby. Though the contents of this letter have been lost to time, its known that whatever it said, it was immediately obvious to Leah that Ruby was no spy for these northern lords that had her deliver it. Seeing the fear in Kurosawa’s eyes, Leah Kazuno reportedly reassured Ruby that no harm would come to her so long as she stayed there, and after having heard of Takami’s impending advance, Kazuno also assured Kurosawa that the two sides would not meet in the field, as Kazuno would be sending a messenger to Takami to explain the situation that they found themselves in, as well as unmask the deception for which they had fallen.

 

     In the meantime, Ruby was taken in as a guest of the Kazuno Shogunate and allowed to write a letter to her sister, to be attached to the message being sent to Takami, assuring her that what Kazuno said in her own letter was the truth, and that the two sides mustn't fight, but should at least for the time being maintain an illusion of preparing for a battle against one another. The two letters were rushed to Takami’s forces, who had begun their march on the Kazuno position. The lords that formulated the battle between the two forces had told Takami and her party that Ruby had been captured by an enemy spy just before dawn, and though they pretended to believe it, they actually had begun to suspect that they were being deceived, as the night before, Kunikida had went to Dia Kurosawa with her fears, trusting that Ruby’s older sister might share in them. Having seen Ruby’s reactions to their plans over the past few days, Dia quickly made the connection herself and agreed to inform the others. Though they did not yet know it, these scheming lords were sending these two armies into talks of an alliance, rather than screams of battle.


	9. Takami and Kazuno Part 2 - An Unlikely Alliance

     Takami’s forces arrived at the Kazuno stronghold after a three day march, during which they were met by the messenger carrying Leah Kazuno’s letter detailing the situation involving Ruby Kurosawa and the deception that they had been tricked into believing, and promising to further explain the full situation of this conflict when they arrived at the fortress. This letter, along with the accompanying one from Ruby herself, was enough to convince Takami and her party that had, in fact, been used, and Takami instructed the messenger to return to Kazuno to let her know that they would indeed be coming to the fortress under a flag of peace. The messenger was quickly back on their way to the Kazuno position, alongside Dia Kurosawa, who was said to have been very anxious to see her little sister safe.

 

     Having received Takami’s word that she would not attack her own forces, Leah Kazuno gladly opened the gates to the advancing army when they arrived and greeted them in person as soon as they rode into the courtyard with both Kurosawa sisters by her side. Takami was reported to have been wearing an ear-to-ear grin when she saw her friends alongside this girl that they had been led to believe was a dangerous foe, as she trusted the judgement of the Kurosawa’s deeply, and in that moment, she knew that Leah Kazuno could be trusted as well.

 

     Kazuno at once went about helping Takami set up camp for her soldiers, insisting that Takami’s armies be treated as if they were her own, and instructing her own soldiers to help them pitch tents and organize supplies. Within a few hours, the camp of Takami’s forces was barely distinguishable from that of Kazuno’s own. The soldiers of both forces were very much relieved to be meeting each other as at least neutral to one another, and many of the ranking officers on both sides soon saw good reason to believe that they would be proper allies by nightfall. Once the matter of setting up camp for was dealt with, Kazuno invited Takami and her party inside the fortress and feasted them well, in honour of what she hoped would become a fruitful alliance. Takami was given a place of honour at Kazuno’s right side during the feast, though the rest of her party were all seated at Kazuno’s own table at her request. Kazuno said that she believed any who were in Takami’s personal retinue should be given as much respect as Takami herself, so she would be remiss to seat any of them at a lower seat. Though Takami and her party happily accepted this honour from Kazuno, it was noted later by Kunikida that Ruby Kurosawa was seated directly to Kazuno’s left, rather than with the rest of Takami’s party. She also noted that the younger Kurosawa sister seemed to have come more out of her shell while talking to Kazuno, and that the pair had seemingly become fast friends. Kunikida’s observations were in fact quite correct, as it would later be discovered that Ruby had written about how close the two had grown in such a short time, this friendship being initiated by the pair bickering about who had the superior older sister, which then led to a mutual understanding and respect for one another. By the time Takami’s forces arrived three days after Ruby’s arrival to the fortress, Ruby and Leah were seemingly inseparable. However, as heartwarming as it may be to read about such a friendship blooming in the face of what could have been a violent and ultimately fruitless conflict, that story must be saved for another time, as it is not truly within the scope of this volume.

 

     After feasting her guests, Kazuno offered to show Takami and her party to the section of the fort where they would be staying. Takami, however, instead asked that they might be allowed to discuss the nature of the deception for which she had fallen, and perhaps terms of an alliance, assuming Kazuno would be up for it. She had already taken council with her party, and they all agreed that they would be more comfortable about staying there with such talks out of the way. Though somewhat surprised by their preference to discuss these matters rather than rest after their march, Kazuno was happy to agree to Takami’s request, and she soon escorted them to a more private room wherein they might discuss these matters. Kazuno briefly explained to the group the rise of her sister’s shogunate and the issues that the lords that had contacted Takami had been giving them ever since. She went on to detail that she had discovered the plot to have the Takami and Kazuno forces smash each other through a spy that she had sent out some weeks prior to Takami arriving in the north, providing Takami with a letter that had been stolen from one of these lords confirming her claims. This proved to be substantial enough evidence for the group, and Takami was quick to ask how she might assist in helping the Kazuno Shogunate deal with these troublesome lords. Kazuno explained that she did not believe that neither her older sister nor Takami could defeat these lords separately, if they combined the full strength of the Kazuno forces with those of Takami’s, they should have no issue stamping out the troublemakers and their twisted ambitions. She went on to explain that word had been sent to Sarah Kazuno of Takami’s impending arrival, and that she was standing by with the rest of her forces on their island, ready to set sail and meet up with Leah’s force at a moment’s notice if Takami agreed to ally with them. Takami took a brief recess from the talks to discuss these findings with her councilors, all of whom agreed that they found Leah trustworthy and that her cause for fighting these lords was just. Ultimately, it was the words of Ruby Kurosawa that convinced the group to align themselves with the Kazunos, as she managed to convince the group that, one way or another, these northern lords would try to have their way, and that if they defeated the Kazuno Shogunate, Takami’s own territory would be where they’d likely turn their gaze next.

 

     After this discussion with her party, Takami returned to Kazuno and requested that she send word to her sister at once to join up with them. There were meddlesome lords that needed to be defeated, and an alliance between the two shogunates would be the safest bet for the both of them. Kazuno was reportedly overjoyed to hear Takami’s agreement to her plan, though she was also noted to have tried to return to a more serious composure rather quickly, but not without a bit of embarrassment on her part. She quickly sent a messenger to her sister, telling Takami that if the seas were good, the main Kazuno force would be arriving within the week. As fate had it, the waves were in fact kind, and the main Kazuno force, headed personally by Shogun Sarah Kazuno herself, made landfall at the fortress four days later. Though Leah Kazuno had planned on being the first to greet her sister upon her arrival, Takami was said to have ran past Leah on her way to do so in order to introduce herself to Sarah Kazuno. Leah Kazuno was reported to have been livid at first, but quickly calmed down after seeing her older sister laughing at Takami’s eagerness to meet her and express her devotion to their alliance. It was at that point, Leah Kazuno later wrote, that she knew all would be fine with this plan.

 

     The two shoguns quickly set about drawing up plans for an offensive against the deceitful lords that sought to pit the two girls against one another. Takami initially wanted her force to lead the attack, as they had greater numbers than Kazuno’s own. However, Sarah quickly talked Takami out of this idea, as she insisted her force should lead, due to their greater knowledge of the terrain and desire to protect what they had only recently fought so hard to create. Furthermore, Kazuno added, Takami’s force were the ones whose help was being enlisted, so she would not feel comfortable putting them in the most immediate danger. Whereas Takami was hesitant to agree to letting her newfound ally take the position of greatest peril in this forthcoming fight, she finally agreed when she heard Kazuno’s reasoning was in part to protect Takami’s forces when it was not entirely their fight. Impressed with Kazuno’s selflessness, Takami agreed to Kazuno’s plan, but only on the condition that the Kazuno vanguard be augmented with a selection of some of Takami’s most elite soldiers, since she would not feel right leaving all of the initial fighting to Kazuno. This deal was agreed upon, and tactical plans were soon being drawn up as Takami sent her officers about selecting troops for this mixed vanguard.

 

     Though Takami professed that she was adept in neither strategic nor tactical planning, preferring instead to leave such tasks to Sakurauchi and Kunikida, Sarah Kazuno insisted that she be present for the planning meetings, saying that she should at the very least have a part in the final say of what the plans would be. Truthfully speaking, Takami did wished to be involved in these meeting, but initially felt that she might not be welcome due to what she felt would be a lack of proper input. She was relieved when she was asked by Kazuno to be in attendance, and happily obliged this request. Though she truly did leave much of the planning to Sakurauchi, Kunikida, and Kazuno’s own tacticians and strategists, Takami did, true to Kazuno’s word, have just as much say as anyone else as to what would be the final plan of action. After several days of these joint planning meetings, it was agreed upon that the Takami’s forces would make up the flanks of the joint army, while the middle would consist primarily of Kazuno’s. There would also be a naval movement led jointly by Watanabe and Leah Kazuno, the purpose of which would be landing a smaller force behind enemy lines to take them in the rear once the battle had begun.

 

     It was decided that the vanguard, compromised of soldiers from both forces in about equal parts, would be led Tsushima. This decision was reached after Sarah Kazuno observed how well Tsushima inspired her personal force, and also by how much Kazuno’s own soldiers seemed to admire the devotion of Tsushima’s soldiers to her. Tsushima gladly accepted command of the vanguard, stating that “the heavens above would grant victory to their cause” and that “the fallen angel would do her part in leading this force towards this victory”. Though Kazuno was markedly baffled by this response, she was reassured by Kunikida that the right choice had been made, as the only person she had ever seen inspire troops more that Tsushima was Takami herself, and even then, Kunikida remarked that the two were in very close competition for who she believed to be the more inspiring commander. The vanguard was in good, if not a bit eccentric, hands according to Kunikida, and that, alongside Takami’s own assurance that Tsushima was a truly great choice to lead the vanguard, seemed sufficient to convince Kazuno of this appointment.

 

     Having designated the leader of the vanguard, it was further agreed upon that Matsuura would lead the northern flank, which would also be tasked with linking up with the naval operation. She was thought particularly suited to this task, being both a great naval commander and competent field commander. For the southern flank, Takami would take the command and be responsible for sweeping northward after dealing with what Kazuno predicted would be the less prepared section of the enemy army. The center would be led by Sarah Kazuno, and would be positioned to reinforce Tsushima quickly after her leading of the initial assault. With the tactical designations all in place, it was decided that the joint forces would set out in three days time, and both leaders went about preparing their armies for the march. Though this was a very ambitious plan, it was quickly and efficiently made ready to be enacted by all of the commanders of both armies, and within the next two days, all of the component forces were well-prepared to set out the next morning.


	10. Takami and Kazuno Go to Battle

     As dawn broke, the coalition forces of the Takami and Kazuno shogunates set out from the fortress that had become their base of operations, ready to fight their decisive battle against the lords that sought to pit the two against one another. If they could win the day, then peace would be all but assured across the entire land. However, this would be an uphill battle. Though they had the tactical advantage in launching a surprise attack, they could not have the advantage of a full on surprise attack, as the time they had taken in setting up their alliance and organizing their forces surely gave their foes at least a hint of an imminent battle. Furthermore, though the gap was small, the coalition was slightly outnumbered and would be fighting in mostly unfamiliar territory. That being said, they almost certainly had a higher morale and more conviction to fight to defeat the lords that sought to have them both destroyed. The Kazuno forces knew that they must win this battle to defend their homes, and the Takami forces had just as much reason to fear that if they lost here, they may soon see their lands invaded as well. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the fate of both fledging shogunates depended on the outcome of this forthcoming battle.

 

     The naval forces under the joint command of Watanabe and Leah Kazuno set off about an hour before the main ground forces so that they might be in place to link up later on during the battle. Tsushima’s vanguard forces were the next to depart, setting off on their march as the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, ready to smash anything that lay in their path. They were followed closely by Sarah Kazuno’s center forces. Shortly following these departures, Takami’s southern flank forces began their march, with Matsuura’s northern flank departing around the same time. All that remained at this point was the battle proper.

 

     Within a few short hours, Tsushima’s vanguard forces encountered the first pocket of enemy resistance, consisting of approximately one hundred enemy soldiers, who all promptly surrendered upon seeing the fighting strength they would be up against. They were made to lay down their arms and most were escorted back to the fortress by a detachment from Tsushima’s forces. However, a small handful were sent back to their main forces to warn them of the coming attack and, in Tsushima’s own words, “make peace with whatever gods they might hold, as the wrath of the heavens would soon descend upon them in the form of the Fallen Angel”. This was all part of the plan of battle, as allowing the enemy to know of the coming attack would give them the idea to pull from their flanks to reinforce the center, thus allowing Takami’s forces to sweep in from the south and the naval forces and Matsuura’s to attack from the north. Though this plan gambled on the enemy falling for a somewhat obvious tactic, it would soon prove to be a wise move, as Takami’s forces were met with practically no resistance on the southern flank, easily sweeping up the skeleton force that had been left to defend it. Similarly, Matsuura was able to link up with the Watanabe-Kazuno forces and assist them in clearing the resistance to the northern flank before sending them on their way to wait for their chance to ambush the enemy from the rear, with Matsuura’s own forces starting their southward march to complete the coalition’s encirclement of the enemy.

 

     By the time the Watanabe-Kazuno forces reached their position to attack from the rear, it was about mid-day, and the battle proper was looming ever closer. Tsushima’s vanguard had positioned themselves on a small rise overlooking the main enemy force, numbered some 40,000 troops. The coalition forces in total could muster about 38,000 troops, but Tsushima’s force was effectively the largest, as it consisted of her 10,000 troops, which could be quickly augmented by Sarah Kazuno’s own 8,000 troops. Takami and Matsuura each commanded forces of around 7,000 each, with the remaining 6,000 troops under the command of Watanabe and Leah Kazuno. Needless to say, all of the individual commanders needed to practice the utmost caution in engaging the enemy and be careful not to draw any more enemy forces than they could handle before their allies were in position. However, the enemy’s lack of knowledge concerning the division of the coalition forces was a double-edged sword, as the sight of Tsushima’s relatively small vanguard taking up their position made for an enticing target, as even being augmented by Sarah Kazuno’s forces, they were outnumbered by more than 2-to-1. Fortunately for the coalition forces, the commanders of the enemy forces were cautious and suspected some sort of trap was in place when Tsushima took up such an open position. Having taken up in sight of the enemy’s main force, Tsushima sent out two messengers to Takami and Matsuura to be prepared to join the fighting once the bulk of the enemy forces were engaged. By the time both commanders received these messengers, Tsushima was readying her vanguard for their attack, confident that word of her position reached her allies. Time was of the essence if she wanted to maintain the element of surprise for the forces lying in wait on the flanks, so there was no time to wait for a return message stating their readiness. In turn, the commanders of both flanks sent messages to Watanabe and Sarah Kazuno and began preparations to attack once they heard the battle break out.

 

     Approximately an hour after sending out her messengers, Tsushima, who had at this point linked her forces up with those of Sarah Kazuno, gave the signal to advance on the enemy troops. In her own account of the battle, Sarah Kazuno remarked that Tsushima’s forces let out “an honestly terrifying battle cry, which had such volume to it that my ears started to ring at the sound” and proceeded to charge full speed at the enemy. Kazuno spurred her own forces on moments later, and with that, the true battle had started in earnest. The enemy forces were evidently taken aback by the sudden attack, despite having a clear view of Tsushima’s forces the whole time. The following account of the outbreak of the fighting comes from Tsushima’s own telling of it after the fact. Though her language may be somewhat strange and fanciful, it remains as perhaps the best account of the initial charge into the fighting:

 

> “As my soldiers let out their sonorous war-cry, we began our charge straight into the face of death. I had no fear, as I knew the heavens above would grant victory to the mighty fallen angel and her forces. The charge towards our foes took them by surprise, and several of them broke in the face of their coming doom, preferring to run for their very lives, dropping their weapons where they stood as they ran as fast as they could from the impending destruction that beared down upon them. As the commander of the vanguard, I was the first to make contact with the fools that dared to seek battle against the unstoppable Yohane Tsushima. My mighty kanabo found its mark just as my soldiers smashed into the enemy, knocking an unfortunate fool to ground with one fell swoop. Before he could even fall all the way, I was already engaged with another poor oaf who thought it wise to attack me. Though our forces were outnumbered, the divine protection we were afforded granted us the upper hand, and within a few short minutes, I found myself face to face with two officers of the enemy forces. Though a great warrior I may be, I did not particularly enjoy my odds of fighting two competent warriors at once. I thank the heavens that Shogun Kazuno was close on my heels and stepped to my side when she saw the conflict that was about to break out in the center of this battle.
> 
>  
> 
> Though the leaders of the forces we were up against were dishonourable fools too afraid to sally forth into battle themselves, I must admit that the commanders of their armies were men of far greater moral standing. Upon seeing Shogun Kazuno step to my side, there became an understanding betwixt the four of us that there would be no dishonourable backstabbing on this battlefield within a battlefield. Shogun Kazuno and I introduced ourselves to the enemy commanders, and were given the same courtesy in return. It was agreed upon between Shogun Kazuno and myself that I should be the first to duel in this battle, being the leader of the vanguard forces. As I stepped forward, so too did one of the enemy commanders. Once again, I introduced myself as Queen Yohane Tsushima, the Fallen Angel who would defeat any who stood in my way. The enemy commander again introduced herself as General Erena Todo, took a bow, and raised her chigiriki into a battle stance. I did the same with my kanabo and began to circle her, watching for when she might strike. I felt that I must be cautious in this fight, as I did not truly know her range of attack, as the chain of Todo’s weapon was concealed within its grip.
> 
>  
> 
> After a short time, Todo seemed to tire of waiting for me to strike first. She lunged towards me and let out a mighty swing of her weapon. I stepped back just in time to avoid her attack, the head of her weapon barely missing my leg. This was the moment I had been waiting for, as the chain of Todo’s chigiriki had now extended, causing her to lose her advantage in surprising me. Having missed her attack, Todo also quickly stepped back and began to spin her weapon quickly, perhaps trying to keep me from knowing from where it would strike next. Though any advantage she might have had over me would not help her against a divine figure such as myself, I did not want Todo having chance at striking me. I quickly took my chance and leapt into the air to deliver a mighty smash with my own weapon. Todo swung her own weapon and wrapped the chain of her weapon around my own. This would prove to be her biggest mistake, though at the time, I could see in her eyes that she believed it to be mine own downfall. She gave her weapon a tug in an attempt to wrench the kanabo from my hands. Against a more sleek weapon, it might have worked. However, the studs of my divine weapon caused her chain to snag, and with a pull of my own, the chigiriki was tore from Todo’s hands. I quickly unraveled the chain from my kanabo and leveled it at my opponent. Todo, to my surprise, gave me a slight smile and bowed to me, admitting that she could not hope to win at this point. She allowed herself to be taken into the custody of some of my soldiers that had cropped up around our battle to ensure the duel remained fair, and was quickly escorted from the battlefield.  Having done my part here, I stepped back and watched as Shogun Kazuno took my place against her own opponent.” 
> 
>  

     Tsushima’s duel against the enemy general Erena Todo would go on to become the stuff of legends, with many of the witnesses of the duel embellishing the story over time, telling stories of the duelists calling down lightning from the skies or creating mighty whirlwinds whenever they unleashed an attack. Fortunately for the scholars, Tsushima herself did not embellish the events, at least not to a noticeable degree. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of her account of Kazuno’s duel that followed shortly thereafter. Though her tellings of it certainly conjure up a fabulous spectacle of the battle, we must instead turn to Kazuno’s own accounts to get a more realistic view of what transpired:

 

> “With Queen Tsushima having successfully defeated her opponent, it was now my own turn to step into the makeshift arena that had opened up within the battle, the walls of such being made up of soldiers from both armies. I was rather shocked to see such honour on display from the troops of the enemy side, as I had previously thought they were all as deceitful as their commanders. I must say I was relieved to see otherwise, as I knew in that moment that if we won the day, any peace that was created would be a lasting one. As I stepped forward to duel the enemy general, I once again gave her the courtesy of introducing myself as Shogun Sarah Kazuno, ruler of the Kazuno Shogunate. My opponent gave her name as General Anju Yuki, gave a courteous bow, and slowly raised her sasumata to prepare for the fight. I admit that I was initially concerned to see that my opponent was using a weapon with such reach, as I would have a hard time getting in with my own katana and wakizashi. I knew, however, that if I could manage to break past the end of her weapon that I would have the advantage at a close range. I gave Yuki a bow of my own and raised my weapons, readying myself for whatever she might throw at me.
> 
>  
> 
> Though Queen Tsushima and her opponent seemed to prefer circling one another, waiting for the other to attack, I stood my ground while Yuki moved the head of her weapon in slow circles as she tried to find a crack in my defenses. I’m sure that we only stood like this for a few short seconds, but time seemed to stand still for me as I waited for the inevitable attack. I recall that Yuki’s attack seemed to practically explode out of nowhere, and the edge of her sasumata grazed my arm as I stepped quickly to the side. Thought it was only a slight scrape, the pain still burned through my arm, making it difficult to hold my weapon. I count myself fortunate that it was my wakizashi arm that was hit, as I might not have been able to hold the extra weight of my katana had I been hit on that side. Almost before I had a chance to react to the sudden pain in my arm, Yuki swung her weapon to the side, attempting to hit me with the shaft of it. Fortunately, I managed to duck just in time and the weapon flew narrowly over my head, throwing my opponent off her balance. Seeing my opening, I quickly stepped in and made an attempt to disarm her. However, to my surprise, Yuki moved with great speed and dodged just out of my reach, quickly countering with a thrust of her sasumata. Again, I narrowly dodged, and again she did as well. This went on for some time, each of us barely dodging the other’s strikes.
> 
>  
> 
> Finally, Yuki began to grow tired, and in what must have been a desperate attempt to end the fight quickly, she let loose with another mighty jab. This time, however, I saw it coming, and as I dodged to the side, I managed to catch the head of her weapon between my blades, and as I did so, ran forward as fast as I could, keeping her weapon tangled within mine. As I charged her down, Yuki was knocked back by the awkward shift of weight in her weapon, and promptly surrendered the fight. I helped her to her feet, and she was soon escorted off by some of my soldiers to be taken back to our forward camp.”
> 
>  

     Again, Kazuno’s victory in her duel was spoken about by the witnesses as being positively awe-inspiring. Rather interestingly, the battle proper seemed to be going just as well for the coalition forces, with the reinforcements from Takami and Matsuura arriving shortly after the duels of Tsushima and Kazuno concluded, causing mass confusion amongst the enemy forces. Seeing their forces faltering, the remaining enemy commander, General Tsubasa Kira, quickly mustered what remained of her forces and ordered a retreat at once. The coalition forces gave pursuit to the retreating foes to assure that they would be driven into the joint forces of Watanabe and Leah Kazuno, as allowing the remaining enemy forces to escape could prove disastrous in the event of a siege on the main defensive position of the enemy. What remained of the enemy was soon trapped between the main coalition forces and the Watanabe-Kazuno force, but despite practically staring defeat in the face, General Kira refused to surrender. Instead, she managed to dig her now outnumbered forces into a defensive position and prepared for a final onslaught.


	11. The Battle Concludes

     Having been driven into a defensive position after what seemed to be a easy victory, General Tsubasa Kira remained surprisingly defiant in the face of defeat. Fearing that the battle that would ensue might turn into a needless all-out slaughter of what remained of the enemy forces, Takami and Kazuno asked for a meeting with Kira. The cornered general agreed, and the three girls rode off a short way from the battlefield at Kira’s request so that they might meet in private. After some seemingly fruitless discussion, Takami sent for the generals Todo and Yuki, as Takami had discovered that the three had been close friends for many years. Takami hoped that the two might talk some sense into the defiant Kira. Upon learning of how both of her friends were defeated, Kira asked that she too might be given the honour of dueling against a champion of the coalition forces, stating that if she was going to be defeated, she would prefer to be defeated personally and with honour, rather than being disgraced by being utterly defeated by Takami and Kazuno’s forces.

 

     Though Kazuno was apprehensive about such a proposal, Takami agreed to Kira’s terms, telling Kazuno that it would only be fair to grant Kira’s request, as the other two enemy commanders were given the same opportunity. Kazuno finally gave in to these terms when Kira agreed that, win or lose, she would surrender to the coalition forces. Having been granted her request for a duel, Kira also asked that she might be allowed to choose her opponent, as she wished to battle whichever of the coalition generals she perceived to be the most determined to win. Though the two shoguns found her reasoning somewhat strange, they agreed to Kira’s request nonetheless, and shortly thereafter rode back to where the two armies waited for their commanders. Space was made between the forces for a duel, and the commanders of the coalition forces all stepped forth so that Kira might choose an opponent. After a brief inspection of her available choices, Kira asked that she might be pitted against Leah Kazuno. The younger Kazuno sister accepted Kira’s request practically before the enemy general was finished speaking, and the two went to the makeshift arena at once. Though many of those present would later discuss the battle in their own writings, Leah Kazuno’s own account is certainly the most detailed, as thus likely the most accurate. The younger Kazuno sister’s recounting of her duel follows:

 

> “As I stepped into the space that had been cleared for this duel, the girl across from me gave me a smirk. When I asked why somebody on the losing side of this battle was grinning, she stated that even though the outcome of this duel wouldn’t change the outcome of the battle, she didn’t intend to hold back just because I was a child. I knew then, as I know now, that she was simply trying to drive me to anger, I admit that it very nearly worked. But instead of letting my emotions get the better of me, I simply raised my nodachi and declared that I, Leah Kazuno of the Kazuno Shogunate, would be her opponent, and that she should prepare to lose. My opponent held up the tonfa had been by her sides and gave them an almost playful twirl before introducing herself as General Tsubasa Kira, the one who would win this final duel.
> 
>  
> 
> As soon as the two of us had risen from our bows to one another, I charged at the enemy general, intending to defeat her with a single quick strike. I’m ashamed to admit that I attacked in such an obvious manner, and as a result, Kira easily dodged my initial strike and gave me quite a hard strike across my back with one of her tonfa. Honestly, my pride was more hurt than my body, and I quickly whirled about with a mighty slash of my blade. Kira narrowly dodged the attack, and I remember the fear in her eyes as she stumbled back from me. To her credit, my opponent quickly regained her composure and was quickly moving in to counter-attack. I gave another swing of my blade, and to my shock, Kira managed to catch the blow with one of her tonfa. I saw her follow up attack coming, but the speed with which she could move her weapons was faster than I could react, and my arm took a grazing blow as I jumped back. Fighting the urge to drop my sword from the pain, I tried to lunge at Kira, but she was already on the move before my attack even started, deftly moving to the side of my blade and going in for a strike to my face.
> 
>  
> 
> I’m still not sure how I managed to do it, but I narrowly dodged the attack and swept my sword low, taking Kira in the leg with the flat of it. As she stumbled away from me, I brought the hilt of my odachi into her side, knocking Kira to the ground with such force that she lost her grip on both tonfa, sending them skidding across the ground out of her reach. As I stood over her, Kira gave me another smile and conceded defeat, saying that she was sorry she underestimated me. I accepted both her surrender and her apology and helped the defeated general to her feet, proud of the fact that I had done my part to win this battle for our forces.”

 

     With all of the enemy commanders defeated, the battle was won by the coalition forces, and the march on the enemy stronghold was swiftly begun. They arrived at the gates within an hour, and though the gates were closed, they were quickly opened as the remaining enemy forces quickly gave up the devious lords that had conspired against the two shogunates. The lords begged for mercy and said that it was all a misunderstanding, to which Sarah Kazuno reportedly replied that she “hoped the jailors in her castle were a more understanding bunch” before having the lords fettered and sent back to Kazuno’s castle back on her island. With the enemy defeated, Takami questioned what Kazuno would do about the territory that was now without their most powerful lords. Kazuno, in a stroke of diplomatic genius, suggested that Takami appoint new lords to the lands controlled by the disgraced ones that had been defeated, saying that she would rather return to her island instead of ruling over land that she was not even attached to. Takami was quick to agree to Kazuno’s idea, and in what may have seemed a foolish idea in the moment, asked the generals Kira, Todo, and Yuki if they would rule over the area in her name. Though many would question the wisdom of appointing generals of the enemy force to such prominent positions, Takami’s idea would prove to be a great one, as the three generals would agree to Takami’s request, and under their lordships would turn the area into a peaceful and greatly prosperous land.

 

    With the appointment of lordships on Kira, Todo, and Yuki, Shogun Chika Takami had finally achieved her goal of bringing peace to the entire land. The Kazuno Shogunate had become close allies who could be completely trusted with quelling any problems that might arise in the north, while the same could be said of Tsushima’s kingdom in the south. Takami herself would easily be able to deal with any problems that might arise in the central part of the land. Fortunately, no such problems would actually arise during the rest of Takami’s life, allowing herself and her allies to live in relative peace for many years.


	12. Epilogue

     Though much more could be written on the later exploits of Takami and her allies, those exploits are not within the scope of this volume, and would instead be better written about in volumes of their own. However, it would not suffice to simply end this telling of Shogun Takami’s rise to power without discussing what she and her many companions did in the years following her aforementioned rise. This epilogue shall serve as a brief telling of what all of Takami’s companions did in their lives after peace had finally been established.

 

     Takami herself returned to her hometown after the fighting was concluded, Takami and Watanabe were married, and the two lived peacefully for the next year. However, after a short while, Takami’s wanderlust began to get the better of her, and she soon set off to explore what might be across the seas alongside Watanabe. The pair would sail to many exotic locations, even going so far as visiting the Papal State of Pope Mari “ Lucidum” Ohara. Before the two of them left to explore the world, Sakurauchi asked Takami if she was worried about what might happen without all of her companions with her, offering to travel with the pair, but Takami reportedly told her tactician that “so long as I have You-chan by my side, I don’t think I’ve got anything to worry about”. After some time, Matsuura wished to sail across the open seas as well, being curious as to what might lie beyond the horizon. Though she traveled different routes than Takami and Watanabe, the three managed to meet up many times throughout their journeys, sometimes intentionally, but more often by pure happy coincidence. Matsuura also managed to sail to the Papal State, and many an interesting account has been told of the friendship, and later supposed romance, that she established with Ohara.

 

     Sakurauchi would go on to travel with Tsushima after peace was restored to the land on the excuse that she found Tsushima’s kingdom to be a beautiful place, and that she hadn’t gotten a proper chance to appreciate it when she had been there previously. The rest of Takami’s companions saw right through the tactician, however, as the budding romance between Sakurauchi and Tsushima was not as well-kept of a secret as Sakurauchi believed. In truth, all of them knew of the relationship, but pretended not to in order to not embarrass the very reserved Sakurauchi. Though many would see the two as a very odd couple, once Sakurauchi felt comfortable showing her feelings in public, it was said that there were none more in love with one another that Yohane Tsushima and her “little demon Riri”.

 

     Having assured herself that Sakurauchi could keep Tsushima’s head on straight, Kunikida asked her queen’s permission to set off on a journey of her own to visit some of the lands she had never gotten to see during all of the fighting, which Tsushima granted happily, telling her strategist to take her time seeing all she wished to see. Kunikida traveled all across the now peaceful island, eventually making her way to the home of the Kurosawa sisters. Though Kunikida grew very close to the timid Ruby Kurosawa over the course of the fighting, she soon grew very close to the more willful Dia Kurosawa during her stay with the sisters. The two were known to spend hours together discussing all manner of things, from poetry and art to more scholarly pursuits, and everything in between. It soon became apparent to the younger Kurosawa sister that her good friend was beginning to fall in love with her older sister, and with a bit of persuasion from Ruby, Kunikida soon admitted her feelings to Dia, to which the older Kurosawa sister joyfully admitted to feeling much the same.

 

     Around this same time, the Kurosawa estate received another visitor in the form of Leah Kazuno, who had traveled from her sister’s shogunate to visit Ruby. The two had become close friends during their brief time knowing one another, though one might not know it by listening to their conversations. Leah and Ruby seemed to be at odds over practically everything, but the two were also practically inseparable when they happened to be in the same place. After spending some time at the Kurosawa estate, Leah asked Dia if she might escort Ruby back to her own estate, as the younger Kurosawa sister expressed an interest in seeing what her friend’s homeland was like. Dia reluctantly agreed, and soon enough the pair had set off for the Kazuno Shogunate. It was during these travels that Leah reportedly confessed having feelings for Ruby, and though Leah later wrote that Ruby was “as red in the face as the colour of her hair” at this confession, once the younger Kurosawa regained her composure, she was said to sheepishly admit to feeling the same way. Ruby stayed at the Kazuno estate for some months before sending for her older sister for an undisclosed reason. When Dia arrived in the northern shogunate (alongside her beloved Kunikida), she let Ruby believe that she didn’t know the moment she got her letter that she wished for Dia to come visit so that she might attend her sister’s wedding.


	13. Appendix: Journal Entries Preceding the Final Battle

     There are three particular journal entries that have been found that were written on the night before the final battle of the Takami-Kazuno coalition forces against their joint enemy. These entries are historically interesting, as the show the beginnings of several of the eventual romantic involvements between Takami’s retinue. They are included here, as the significance of them is high, though their placement in the text is otherwise difficult.

 

* * *

 

     Somewhat surprisingly, the very theatrical Yohane Tsushima had grown very close to the much more reserved Riko Sakurauchi over the past months since Tsushima had allied herself with Takami, with Tsushima going so far as to declare that Sakurauchi was one of her “little demons”, a designation which very much embarrassed Sakurauchi. The night before the forces were set to march, Sakurauchi was seen going to visit Tsushima in her chambers within the Kazuno fortress. Though she denied it sometimes in the company of the rest of the party, Sakurauchi cared very deeply for Tsushima, and visited her that night to, as Tsushima later wrote, “wish me the best of luck on the morrow. I told Riri [Sakurauchi’s “demon name”, bestowed upon her by Tsushima] that I needed no well wishes, as the heavens were watching over me, but I appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. Riri seemed to get annoyed with me at that point, and told me that she very much wanted me to be careful and not get hurt, so I dutifully promised her that I wouldn’t take any risks that I didn’t need to take.” Tsushima’s use of the word “dutifully” could be merely attributed to her love of flowery language, little more than Tsushima considering it her “duty” to assure her friend of her safety and little else, if not for Sakurauchi’s own telling of the encounter in her own journal. After making Tsushima promise that she’d be careful, Sakurauchi would return to her own chambers and would go on to write the following in her journal:

 

> “I spoke to Yohane just now, as I was worried about what she might do once the battle started. I know she means well with all of her boasting and theatrics, but really, I was scared she might try to do something stupid, just so she could tell me some great story of her exploits later on. I couldn’t bear the thought of her getting hurt...or worse yet...oh, I can’t even make myself write that...but, when I went to talk to her about all of this, she did exactly what I thought she would and talking about how “the heavens would grant her victory” and all of that nonsense. I’m a bit ashamed to say I cried when she called me “Riri”. I act like I hate it when she calls me that in front of the others, but really, I can’t help but feel my heart skip a beat when she does it. But...when she saw me like that, Yohane snapped out of her usual antics and embraced me. I can’t get the feeling out of my mind, but I don’t really mind that. She promised that she would come back to me after this is all over, and I could tell she meant it. I know I don’t have to worry about her, because she’s worried about what could happen to me if she does something reckless.”
> 
>  

     Sakurauchi’s wording of Tsushima “coming back” to her conjures up many a vision of romantic stories of soldiers coming home after a battle to the arms of a lover, and indeed, Sakurauchi would go on to have a more public relationship with Tsushima, though she did always seem to be hesitant to be very affectionate in front of others, a thing that Tsushima was later said to take delight in using to tease her lover.

 

* * *

 

 

     You Watanabe and Chika Takami had been close friends for as long as either of the pair could remember. The two had been practically inseparable from the time they met, and Watanabe had been the staunchest supporter of Takami’s cause since the outset. That being said, Watanabe had privately expressed in her journals that she felt Takami growing apart from her in favour of Sakurauchi. Though Watanabe also wrote that she knew it was for the sake of planning battles and the like, she could not help but feel jealous. Perhaps fearing for the worst for either of them, Watanabe resolved to discuss these feelings with Takami before the battle, and asked that Takami meet her that evening. The two of them met on the shore near where Watanabe’s ship was docked, ready to set sail the next morning, as, according to Watanabe, “the view of the sea was almost exactly the one back home, and it made me feel safe being there with Chika”. Watanabe went on to recount the events of that evening on the beach in journal as follows:

 

> “I was scared, honestly, but I had to tell Chika what was going on. I felt like I could tell her anything, I had always felt that way, so I couldn’t see any reason why I was holding back telling her how I felt about her spending so much time with Riko. I’m still a bit shocked that I managed to get all of this out to her instead of just telling her I was worried about the battle, but I managed to, somehow. I told her that I was jealous of Riko, and that I felt we were drifting apart, and that honestly, I was scared of what might happen to either of us in the battle that was coming up...and somehow in the heat of the moment...I let it slip that I love her. I told finally told Chika that I love her, after all these years...and that’s when I couldn’t hold back my tears any more. But I don’t regret any of it, because for the I-have-no-idea-how-many-ith time, Chika threw her arms around me and hugged me tight...but this time it was different somehow. I’m not sure how, but this time, I felt something more. And that’s when I noticed she was crying too. When I asked Chika what was wrong, she told me through her own tears that she had no idea I felt like that about her spending so much time with Riko, and when I tried to tell her it was fine, she just shook her head and told me she wished she had paid more attention, to me and to herself. When I asked what she meant by that, Chika managed a smile and said that she had wondered about her and I before...about what might happen to “us” after all of this was said and done. She told me she loved me too...and well...oh, my head’s still spinning when I think about what happened after that! But...that’s something to keep me going now! I’m going to do my best in this battle, and I’ll be coming back to Chika so we can pick up from where we left off earlier. I’m going to come back to the girl I love...to the...to the girl that loves me!”

 

     Watanabe’s journal is much more direct than what we saw in Sakurauchi’s, but it tells a similar story, in a sense, and again, shows us the start of something that would come to fruition after the fighting was over. Takami and Watanabe would go on to be as inseparable as adults as when they were children, and, to the surprise of nobody, got married shortly after all of the fighting was finally over.

 

* * *

 

 

     In the short time that Leah Kazuno and Ruby Kurosawa had known each other to this point, the two had become very close. As previously mentioned, the two began their friendship arguing with one another, before gaining a mutual respect that then blossomed into a close friendship. On the eve of the battle, the two girls were seen about the fortress with one another, discussing what might happen. At her older sister’s request, Ruby had agreed to not head into the battle proper, but to instead hang back with the reserves, so that she might retreat if need be. Though Ruby protested at first, she eventually agreed when she was told that it would help her sister keep a clear head in the fighting if she didn’t have to worry about Ruby. Although Dia would not have to worry about what would happen to Ruby, Ruby could not say the same. Not wanting to burden Dia with her worries, she instead turned to her newfound friend to ask how she dealt with her own sister going into battle. Leah later recounted this talk she had with Ruby as follows:

 

> “When Ruby came to me, scared about what might happen to her sister tomorrow, I couldn’t help but do everything I could to reassure her that everything would be fine. I told her that she needed to trust in Dia the same way I trust in Sarah when she has to go into a battle. I still didn’t agree that Ruby’s sister was as impressive as my own, but I kept my mouth shut about that, because I had seen Dia training with the soldiers in the castle yard enough to know that she was still more than strong enough to hold her own in a battle. Instead, I told Ruby to take a walk with me to clear her head. I don’t know why, but I felt like I had to assuage her fearful thoughts in any way I could. So the two of us began walking all about the fort, and I listened to her talk all about how much she admired Dia and how strong she was. After a while, I just started to get lost in the sound of her voice, and started thinking of what it might be like to have her talk about me so fondly. I have no idea what brought about that thought, but it snapped me right back to reality...right back to watching this girl I had grown so close to over the past few days. I don’t know when exactly it had happened, but I know that that’s when I realized that when I made it back after this fight...I just might have to see if Ruby feels the same way...I mean...it’s not like I want her to, but I’m just curious…”

 

     Kazuno’s journal entry here is, interestingly, the only one that shows no fear concerning the coming battle, but it is significant as the first hint of something more than a friendship between Ruby Kurosawa and herself, a relationship that would later prove significant, as the two would help to establish a permanent alliance between the Takami and Kazuno Shogunates through a marriage pact. Though in truth, the alliance that was solidified by this marriage was more of a fringe benefit, for by all accounts, few were ever happier together than Leah Kazuno and Ruby Kurosawa.

* * *

 


End file.
